MARINES - A ONE PIECE story (ENGLISH) - Part I

CHAPTER XXIV - A father's rage

- Gone ? cried Myr, his forehead dripping.

He had run through the whole city, climbed a series of steep slopes and beat more minions than he could count, only to find the library intact : his two apprentices were slightly wounded, but conscious, and their assailants had already disappeared.

-Sorry, boss ! They were in a hurry, they knew what they were doing ! cried Jorge, massaging his ribs.

Scorpio's attack had damaged it, and he remained bent in half, sitting directly on the floor of the library. Arthur, on the other hand, had sheathed Excalibur back and chatted with the hostages, sages, regulars of the library, as well as its staff. Myr approached him and put his big hand on his shoulder :

- You think you can handle it, son ? I'm going to track these two men down while you take care of these hostages, but I need the little information you have in your possession.

- A stele. That's what they stole. I will question all the hostages to find out what this is, the director will tell me.

Myr approved with a calm nod, then rushed outside, in the footsteps of the pirates. He had to find them before they returned to their ship.

...

Zell's rope had circled the gigantic Aquarius before he could react, enclosing it as a lasso would have done, while Jun had skillfully passed behind his back : the two tanks harnessed there were the source of his power, and destroying them would allow the two young soldiers to neutralize the enemy. But as she prepared to leap and lacerate them with her blades, Aquarius, in a furious motion, grabbed Zell's ropes and pulled his enemy towards him. With a backhand, he stroke his ribs, before turning back to push Jun away.

Myr, in search of the stele, crossed the ruined city and saw his two apprentices, whom he had left, half an hour earlier, to rescue Arthur and Jorge. He looked at the port, to which his enemies must have fled, and then at his apprentices in difficulty, and he resigned himself : the priority was these children, the young and bright future he dared to believe in for the Marine. The stele could wait.

As Aquarius was beating up the young cook, unarmed and curled up on herself, Myr dashed like a rocket, and threw himself at the enemy, ready to tear him to pieces :

- Tiger style : inferno fury !

And as he roared like a tiger, a deluge of sharp and unpredictable attacks gashed Aquarius' massive body. The Vice-Admiral's fingers, bent like claws, covered with the black armor of the armament haki, tore the skin of his enemy, cut it off, smashed it. Aquarius, who had been helpless, raised his two cannons simultaneously, ready to pulverize his opponent.

- Supreme deluge ! he yelled, as his guns fired.

The water and air, under high pressure, joined in a common whirlwind, the deafening crash of which destroyed everything in its path. Jun's gaze, panicked, turned to his mentor, but in a blink of an eye he was gone.

- There ! cried Zell.

Myr, in a split second, had managed to leap into the air, dodging Aquarius' storm, and falling right behind him. The gigantic pirate tried to turn around, to face his enemy once again, but the old soldier was too fast : with a sharp movement of his wrist, he shredded his enemy's tanks, grinding the steel as if it had been paper.

Jun looked at his mentor with pride and admiration : he had managed to dodge all his enemy's attacks without suffering any damage, and to defeat him without experiencing the slightest problem.

- So this is it... the power of haki, she murmured imperceptibly.

Suddenly, the canisters Aquarius carried behind his back began to whistle, letting out all the gas they contained.

- Holy shit ! he roared as he was getting rid of his harness.

He furiously untied the straps that attached him to it and threw the harness on the two young soldiers who had wasted so much time of his time. Zell and Jun tried to protect themselves, but it was too late : the canisters, under pressure, were ready to explode.

Myr leapt on their sides and caught them, dragging them several feet further as the tanks exploded, blowing out the ruins that were all around them. The Vice-Admiral had erected his large white cloak to protect his two students from the debris, and they, though shaken and stained by the smoke, found the strength to thank him ardently. As he hugged them, a new detonation happened. This time, a projectile burst into the sky, spreading a green cloud over the city.

- Is it poison ? asked Zell.

- No, more like a signal. We have to go back to the port !

...

Haru, though busy with his fight against Taurus, also saw the signal, as did her opponent. The young woman with long red hair climbed the rope in a few leaps and nestled in the crow's nest, from where she taunted her enemy :

- Sorry, but I have to go. We'll see each other later, sweetheart ! she said, pulling her tongue out.

- Count on it... Haru murmured.

The pirate took her momentum and, with a majestic leap, returned to her ship, on which the minions of Zodiac were already flocking. Scorpio and Leo had triggered the signal : the tablet was stolen, the mission was a success. Their captain hated bloodsheds and the very idea of death, so it was not necessary to stay and spread chaos. They could now leave to join him.

- What's going on? Taurus asked them when she returned.

Scorpio pointed to the stone stele hidden under his mantle, and then looked up at the harbor.

- Aquarius is the only one missing, as always, Leo said. He may well stay here, if he wants to...

- Let's give him two minutes to arrive, Scorpio said. Raise the sails in the meantime !

Emerging from a cloud of smoke and dust, the gigantic Aquarius was running towards them, his face bloodied and visibly breathless, supported by all its minions.

- You've been so slow... chuckled Leo.

- Shut up ! I had to deal with a Vice-Admiral, was that even planned?

- A Vice-Admiral ? Scorpio calmly said. This may complicate God's plans...

Then, with his entire team, he turned to his men, and ordered them to raise the anchor. The three great battleships sailed away, while Haru watched them go, helpless. While she was aiming at their generals, going for broke, a thick white cloud emerged from Scorpio's ship. The sea air quickly carried this cloud into the port and into the ravaged city, and the atmosphere became unbreathable. Myr, Jun and Zell, who had pursued Aquarius, were blinded and suffocated by the tear gas, which the ship left behind to prevent his enemies from following it. Completely empty-handed, and still coughing, they returned to the Seagull and found Haru. She hugged her comrades and tried to reassure them : the stele had indeed been stolen, but they had been able to limit the damage done in the city, and the number of injured people seemed to be very low at first news.

- It is strange, observed the young Kuja. These pirates do not seem inclined to kill, or even loot. They follow very clear instructions from their captain. The chaos they sowed in the city was not irrational, it was just a diversion...

She then remembered the sweet words that this "god" had whispered to Taurus, and a shiver ran through her spine. Such calm and calculating behavior was unexpected in the sphere of piracy, it was almost chilling.

As the members of Team A were consulting, the den-den mushi rang in the Vice-Admiral's room. Arthur, rejoiced, said in a hopeful voice :

- It doesn't matter if the Zodiac escaped, we found the key to recover the stele ! Come to the library quickly !

And without further explanation, he hung up.